Ash tray



F A. JOSEPH ASH TRAY Filed April 26, 1941 a H m R N m: E mm +w WJ r I A fl m L E F B ed Sept. 1, 1942 UNITED STATES PATE NT OFFICE This invention relates to a combination ash tray and cigarette snumng or extinguishing device.

The object of the present invention is generally to improve and simplify the construction and operation of ash trays of the character described; to provide an ash receptacle for the convenience of smokers, in the bottom of which are formed grooves to receive lighted cigarette butts or ends, said grooves being relatively long to receive one or more butts end to end, and of sufllcient depth to cut off or at least reduce the oxygen supply to the burning end of a cigarette, sufilclently to cause extinction thereof; to provide a ledge or rest for the temporary reception of a cigarette, and at one end thereof a snufling device which will extinguish the cigarette rather than let it continue to burn, and particularly a device which will snuff out the cigarette placed on the temporary rest before it can burn a suflicient distance to overbalance and fall oil to burn or damage a tablecloth, furniture surface, and so on; to provide a temporary support from which the cigarette may be readily picked up from time to time; and further, to provide a tray which may be readily cleaned.

The ash tray is shown by way of illustration in the. accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the tray;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same:

Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on line III-III of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a. longitudinal section taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing in detail, and especiallyto Figs. 2 to 4, an ash tray is disclosed having a receptacle R with a bottom portion A and a peripheral wall consisting of two end sections 2-2 and two side sections 3-4. Formed integral with the bottom portion A of the tray and extending a the walls 2-2 are a plurality of spaced parallel ribs 4, and formed between them are grooves 5 of which the base 5a is rounded, in which may be placed burning cigarettes or cigarette butts, ashes, burnt match ends, and similar smokers refuse. The grooves should have the following characteristics:

(1) They should be straight;

, (2) They should be at least as deep as threefourths of the diameter of a cigarette;

(3) The minimum width of the groove should be greater than the diameter of a cigarette, so as to avoid wedging; the base of the grooves being rounded and slightly larger than the diameter of a cigarette;

(4) The grooves should be closed at opposite ends;

(5) The ends of the grooves where they meet the walls 2-2 of the receptacle should be inclined as at 20. and curved as shown at 2b and 2c, to facilitate cleaning; and

(6) The height of the ribs 4 between which the grooves are formed is preferably less than that of the peripheral wall.

Burning cigarette butts placed in grooves having the above characteristics become extinguished, as the oxygen supply is substantially cut oil and moisture is formed which assists extinction. The cigarette butts and match ends will line up in the grooves and will present a more .orderly appearance than is the case with the usual type of ash try, and even though ashes or match ends are first deposited in the groove and then a cigarette butt on top thereof, the depth of the grooves should be sufllcient to reduce the oxygen supply at least to a point where the burning end will become extinguished.

It should be noted that the sides 33 are extended laterally a considerable distance to form a ledge or rest upon which a burning cigarette may be temporarily supported. In as much as the average cigarette is from 2% to 3 inches long, the distance from the outer to the inner edge of the rest should be about 1% to 1 inches, so that overbalancing will be avoided. A lug having one or more grooves 1 formed therein is positioned at the inner edge of .the ledge. The grooved lug is comparatively short, and thus leaves a plain or substantially flat surface 8 between it and the outer edge of the rest. The plain or substantially flat portion of the rest lug is sufficiently long to assist the picking up of a burning cigarette when its length is only approximately half its unburned length. A groove extending the full length of the rest would be inconvenient in this respect.

When the ash tray or the rest is made of a material such as glass or porcelain, and suitably shaped, a burning cigarette automatically extinguishes itself when it burns down to the edge of the rest or the groove 1. Thus if th rest is approximately half the length of a fresh cigarette, no cigarette could unbalance itself and fall of! to burn or damage the surface upon which the ash tray is placed. The depth of the grooves I and their width should be such that the oxygen supply is so diminished when burning reaches the grooves that the cigarette will become extinguished, both by lack of oxygen and the formation of moisture. The grooved lug obviously prevents the cigarette from rolling oi! the rest, and as the grooves are slightly larger in diameter than the cigarettes, wedging is avoided.

The tray as" a whole may of course be made of any suitable material, and it is so designed that burning cigarette ends are not only extinguished by a reduction of the oxygen supply but also. to a certain extent, by conduction of heat away from the burning end into the tray; and while certain features of my invention have been more or less specifically described and illustrated, I nevertheless wish it understood that changes may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims, and that the materials and finish may be such as the experience of the manufacturer or varying conditions of use may demand.

Having thus described and illustrated my invention, what I claim and wish to secure by Letters Patent is 1. An ash receptacle having a bottom portion, a peripheral wall, a plurality of parallel ribs integral with the bottom portion forming a plurality of straight grooves for the reception of cigarette butts, said grooves having a depth not less than three-fourths of the diameter of a cigarette and being curved at the ends to facilitate cleaning and said peripheral wall being higher thanthe said ribs.

2. An ash receptacle comprising a container having a bottom and a peripheral wall, and means for extinguishing a lighted cigarette butt dropped into said container comprising parallel ribs integral with the bottom and of less height than said peripheral wall, dividing the bottom of the container into a plurality of substantially straight parallel adjacent grooves having a depth not less than three-fourths the diameter of a cigarette and a width slightly greater than the diameter 01 a-cigarette.

3. An ash receptacle comprising a container having a bottom and an up-standing peripheral wall, said bottom wall being provided with means for extinguishing a lighted cigarette butt dropped into said container comprising a plurality of adjacent straight grooves closed at the ends and having a depth not less than the diameter of a cigarette, the bottom of said grooves being rounded with a curvature approximately equal .to the curvature of a cigarette and the ends of said grooves being inclined upwardly.

FELIX A. JOSEPH. 

